WINNOWINGS  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 

REVOLUTIONARY  NARRATIVES. 

No.  V. 


5o x  57 


Ex  Safaris 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  booh." 


WINNOWINGS  IN  AMERICAN  HISTORY. 

REVOLUTIONARY  NARRATIVES. 

No.  V. 


250  copies  printed. 
No.  l  4_ 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


The  Present  State  of  the 
American  Rebel  Army, 
Navy,  and  Finances. 
Transmitted  to  the  Brit- 
ish Government  in  Octo- 
ber, 1780 

BY 

BENEDICT  ARNOLD. 


EDITED  BY 

PAUL  LEICESTER  FORD. 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. : 
Historical  Printing  Club. 
1891. 


236 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/presentstateofamOOarno 


N  O  T  E. 


Arnold  fled  from  West  Point  ort 
September  25,  1780,  and  reached  New 
York  on  the  following  day.  Between 
that  day  and  October  7,  he  drew  up 
the  paper  here  printed  and  enclosed  it 
to  Lord  George  Germain,  with  the 
following  letter: 

New  York  7111  October  1780. 

My  Lord, 

Conscious  of  the  rectitude  of  my 
Intentions  (whatever  Constructions 
may  have  been  put  on  my  Conduct,) 
and  convinced  of  the  benevolence  and 
goodness  of  your  Lordship,  I  am  em- 
boldened to  request  Your  Interest  and 
Intercession,  that  I  may  be  restored  to 
the  favor  of  my  most  gracious  Sover- 
eign; In  the  fullest  Confidence  of  his 
Clemency,  I  most  cheerfully  cast  my- 
(5) 


6 


self  at  his  Feet,  imploring  his  Royal 
Grace  and  Protection. 

I  have  that  Confidence  in  the  Good- 
ness of  Sir  Plenry  Clinton,  That  His 
Majesty  will  not  remain  long,  unin- 
formed that  some  considerable  time 
has  elapsed,  since  I  resolved  to  devote 
my  Life  and  Fortune  to  his  Majesty's 
Service,  and  that  I  was  intent  to  have 
Demonstrated  my  Zeal  by  an  Act, 
which  had  it  succeeded  as  intended, 
must  have  immediately  terminated  the 
unnatural  Convulsions  that  have  so 
long  distracted  the  Empire. 

Your  Lordship  will  perceive  by  the 
enclosed  address  to  the  Public,  by 
what  principles  I  have  been  and  am 
now  actuated,  to  which  I  shall  at  pres- 
ent only  add  my  most  sacred  Assur- 
ance that  no  endeavors  of  mine  shall 
be  wanting  to  confirm  the  Profession 
I  make  of  an  unalterable  Attachment 
to  the  Person,  Family  and  Interests  of 
my  Sovereign,  and  the  Glory  of  his 
Reign.  I  enclose  another  Paper  with 
some  imperfect  Notes,  but  will  do  my- 
self the  honor  by  the  next  Conveyance 


7 


to  transmit  Your  Lordship  a  more  full 
and  perfect  State  of  Matters  than  in 
my  present  Confusion  and  Circum- 
stances I  am  able  to  do. 

I  shall  endeavour  to  merit  your 
Lordships  Patronage  by  my  Zeal  and 
Assiduity  in  His  Majesty's  Service. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  the 
greatest  Respect  My  Lord  Your 
Lordships  Most  Obedient  and  most 
humble  servant 

B.  Arnold. 

The  Right  Hon"* 

Lord  George  Germain. 

This  paper  is  printed  from  the  orig- 
inal in  the  English  State  Paper  Office, 
and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
discover,  has  never  been  printed  or 
quoted  before. 

If  these  statements  represent  his 
true  opinion  of  the  condition  of  Amer- 
ican affairs,  his  treason  is  easily  ex- 
plained. 

Paul  Leicester  Ford. 

97  Clark  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


The  Present  State  of  the  American 
Rebel  Army,  Navy,  and  Finances, 
with  some  Remarks, 
The  present  operating  Force  under 
the  immediate  Command  of  general 
Washington  as  stated  by  himself  to  a 
Council  of  general  Officers  the  6th 

ult°   mounts  to  10,400  men 

One  Battalion  of  Contin1, 

troops  at  Rhode  Island  500 
Two  State  Regiments  of 
Contin1  Militia  at  North 
Castle   500 

1 1 ,400 

About  one  half  of  these  Troops  are 
Militia,  whose  time  of  service  expires 
on  the  first  day  of  January  next,  which 

(9) 


IO 


will  reduce  the  Army  engaged  for  the 
war  to  less  than  Six  Thousand  men, 
exclusive  of  the  Troops  in  the  South- 
ern Department  under  General  Gates, 
who  may  amount  to  eight  hundred  or 
a  thousand  regular  troops,  besides 
Militia;  about  350  Light  Horse  are 
included  in  the  above  Calculation. 
All  these  troops  are  illy  clad,  badly 
fed,  and  worse  paid  having  in  general 
two  or  three  years  pay  due  to  them. 
Many  of  the  best  officers  of  the  Army 
have  resigned,  and  others  are  daily 
following  their  Example,  through  Dis- 
gust, necessity,  and  a  Conviction  that 
the  Provinces  will  not  be  able  to  Es- 
tablish there  Independence. 

There  has  long  subsisted  a  Jealousy 
between  Congress  and  the  Army. 
The  former  have  been  Jealous  of  the 


1 1 


Power  of  the  latter,  and  the  latter  have 
thought  themselves  neglected,  and  ill 
treated  by  the  former,  who  have  ex- 
cluded the  Army  from  every  Appoint- 
ment of  honor,  or  profit  in  the  Civil 
Line.  The  Common  Soldiers  are  ex- 
ceedingly disgusted  with  the  Service, 
and  every  effort  to  recruit  the  Army 
(except  by  Temporary  Draughts  of 
Militia)  has  hitherto  proved  ineffect- 
ual. Congress  and  General  Washing- 
ton last  Spring  made  the  most  press- 
ing Demands  on  the  Colonies  to  fur- 
nish a  Body  of  Troops  to  complete  the 
Army  to  35,000  men,  every  Argument 
was  urged  to  enforce  the  Demand, 
among  others  that  it  would  enable 
General  Washington  (in  conjunction 
with  the  French  Troops)  to  oblige  Sir 
Henry  Clinton  to  evacuate  New  York 


12 

— and  thereby  put  a  Period  to  the 
War:  The  Colonies  promised  to 
Comply  with  the  Requisition,  every 
effort  was  used,  but  without  Success. 
The  Body  of  the  People  heartily  tired 
of  the  war  refused  to  Inlist  Voluntar- 
ily, and  not  more  than  one-third  of  the 
men  ordered  to  be  Draughted,  ap- 
peared in  the  Field.  The  Distress  and 
Discontents  of  the  People  are  daily 
increasing,  and  the  difficulty  of  Re- 
cruiting the  Army  another  year  will 
undoubtedly  be  greater  than  ever. 

The  Navy  is  reduced  to  three  Fri- 
gates, and  a  few  small  vessels,  who  are 
generally  in  Port,  for  want  of  hands  to 
man  them. 

The  Treasury  is  entirely  empty  and 
the  finances  are  at  the  lowest  Ebb. 
The  Public  Debt  inclusive  of  Paper 


*3 

emitted  by  Congress,  and  the  Colons 
ies,  Loan  Office  Certificates,  and  Ar- 
rears due  to  the  Army,  Commissaries 
and  Quarter  Masters  amounts  to  up- 
wards of  Four  hundred  Million  of 
Paper  Dollars.  Congress  have  lost 
all  Confidence  and  Credit  with  the 
People,  who  have  been  too  often  de- 
ceived and  duped  by  them  to  pay  any 
regard  to  their  promises  in  future,  the 
different  Provinces  have  very  little 
more  Credit  with  the  People  than 
Congress.  Their  late  Emissions  of 
Paper  for  the  payment  of  which  they 
have  given  every  possible  Security, 
can  hardly  be  said  to  have  any  Cur- 
rency, and  is  Depreciating  Rapidly. 

As  the  result  of  their  Distresses  the 
Eyes  of  the  People  are  in  general 
opened,  they  Feel  their  Error  and 


'4 

look  back  with  Remorse  to  their  once 
happy  Condition,  and  most  ardently 
wish  for  a  reconciliation  on  Terms 
safe  and  honorable  to  both  countries. 
Many  would  Return  to  it  with  implicit 
Confidence.  Some  doubt  the  Suffic- 
iency of  the  Powers  of  the  present 
Commissioners  to  Offer  or  Accept 
Terms  for  an  Established  accomoda- 
tion. It  would  serve  very  good  uses 
if  the  commissioners  have  Authority 
for  it,  to  Signify,  that  the  Colonies 
upon  returning  to  their  obedience, 
shall  be  restored  to  their  Antient  G  n- 
dition  with  Respect  to  their  Charter, 
Rights,  and  Privileges,  Civil  and  Re- 
ligious, free  from  British  Taxation, 
and  to  Invite  to  Negociation  for  Gen- 
eral Regulations.  It  will  increase  the 
i> umber  of  Advocates  for  the  reunion. 


But  the  best  step  is  to  Vest  Com- 
missioners with  Decisive  Powers  on 
such  Settlement  as  Great. Britain  may 
be  willing  to  Establish.  There  will 
always  be  Jealousies  seen  while  a 
Power  is  Reserved  to  Great  Britain 
to  approve  or  disapprove,  what  Her 
Commissioners  have  done.  With 
power  in  a  Sett  of  Commissioners  to 
bind  the  Nation  as  firmly  as  she  would 
bind  herself,  by  Future  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment, I  am  of  opinion  that  a  Pacifi- 
cation would  immediately  take  place. 

But  should  the  Artful  and  Design- 
ing who  have  assumed  the  Reins  of 
government,  continue  to  have  suffic- 
ient Influence  to  mislead  the  Minds  of 
the  People,  and  continue  the  Opposi- 
tion to  Government,  I  am  Clearly  of 
Opinion    that,  an    addition   of  Ten 


16 

thousand  Troops  to  the  American 
army  (including  those  who  may  be  on 
their  way  to  America)  will  be  a  suffic- 
ient Force  under  the  Direction  of  an 
Officer  of  the  Experience  and  abilities 
of  Sir  Henry  Clinton  to  put  a  period 
to  the  Contest  in  the  Course  of  the 
next  Campaign. 

I  have  forgot  to  mention  that  the 
want  of  Provision  in  the  Army  is  not 
owing  to  the  Scarcity  of  Provision  in 
the  country,  But  to  the  weakness  of 
the  Usurpation  in  every  Colony,  with- 
out Money  or  Credit  Supplies  must  be 
Collected  by  Force  and  Terror,  wher- 
ever the  Army  are  they  take  without 
opposition.  But  this  force  acts  against 
Itself  by  Creating  internal  Enemies, 
and  by  making  Friends  to  Great  Brit- 
ain.   It  is  One  of  the  Principal  Saps 


17 

hourly  undermining  the  Strength  of 
the  Rebellion. 

N.  B.  In  the  foregoing  Estimate 
the  French  Troops  at  Rhode  Island 
who  amount  to  about  5000  Effectives 
are  not  Included. 

B.  Arnold. 


WINNOWINGS 


AMERICAN  HISTORY. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  HISTORICAL  PRINTING  CLUB. 
97  Clark  St.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Report  on  the  Management 
of  the  Estates  Sequestered 
in  South  Carolina,  by  Or- 
der of  Lord  Cornwallis,  in 
1780-1782. 

IT 


JOHN  CRUDEN, 


PAUL  LEICESTER  FORD. 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. : 
Historical  Pmm*~  Cixt. 
1890. 


Revolutionary  Narratives 

No.  I. 

Minimo,  pp.  27. 
Only  250  copies  printed. 

Paper,  uncut,  .      .  .75. 

Half  vellum  paper,  bds, 
gilt  top,  uncut,  .  .  $1.00. 


Among  the  endeavors  to  re-establish  the  civil  gov- 
ernment in  the  Southern  States,  after  their  virtual 
reconquering  in  the  campaign  of  1779-S0,  was  in- 
cluded an  organization  intended  to  till  the  lands  of 
those  engaged  in  open  Rebellion  against  Great  Brit- 
ian.  For  this  purpose,  the  negroes  who  had  been 
stolen  or  escaped  to  the  British  lines  were  set  to  work 
on  these  plantations,  under  the  management  of  John 
Cruden,  a  Charleston  Merchant.  Of  the  success  of  the 
attempt  we  have  here  his  report,  which  is  now  for  the 
first  time  printed  from  the  original,  and  which  is  a 
document  of  very  considerable  Revolutionary  and 
state  interest. 


My  Services  and  Losses  in 
aid  of  the  King's  Cause 
during  the  American  Rev- 
olution. 


STEPHEN  TUTTLE, 


BROOKLYN,  N.V.I 
1890. 


Revolutionary  Narratives 


No.  11. 


Minimo,  pp.  24. 
Only  250  copies  printed. 


Paper,  uncut, 


.75. 


Half  vellum  paper,  bds., 
gilt  top,  uncut,  .  .  $1.00. 


Stephen  Tuttle,  a  resident  of  northern  New  York, 
was  a  prominent  Loyalist  who  held  office  before  the 
Revolution  under  the  King's  Government,  and  was 
active  in  his  assistance  to  that  side  during  the  war. 
He  narrowly  escaped  being  hung  by  Arnold,  and  gave 
secret  aid  during  the  Burgoyne  Campaign  to  the 
British.  Finally  he  fled  to  Canada,  in  1779,  and  his 
property  was  confiscated  by  the  Americans.  He  filed 
a  statement  of  his  services  and  losses  with  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  which  is  here  reprinted. 


My  Services  and  Losses  in 

1 ! Mnl  11 1 inii  1  ]'\  \:ippati\'pc 
licYUiuiiuuun  i> ui  1  all v  t>o 

aid  of  the  King's  Cause 

during  the  American  Rev- 
olution. 

No.  III. 

IT 

ISAAC  WILKINS, 

Minimo,  pp.  23. 

ItafBEX  or  the  New  You  Assooiv, 

ftc,  Ac,  &c 

Only  250  copies  printed. 




Paper,  uncut,  .      .  .75. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y.: 

Half  vellum,  paper,  Ms, 

Historical  Prikttng  Ciuik 
1850. 

gilt  top,  uncut,  .  .  $1.00. 

Isaac  Wilkins  was  one  of  the  ablest  loyalists  in 
New  York,  and  played  a  most  important  part  in  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  contest.  To  his  pen 
have  been  referred  the  famous  A.  W.  Farmer  tracts, 
and  his  motion  against  the  Continental  Association 
in  the  New  York  Assembly  had  a  far-reaching  effect. 
Compelled  to  fly  by  an  armed  force,  he  sought  refuge 
in  England,  where  his  services  were  recognized  by  a 
pension  from  the  government.  This  memorial  to  the 
English  government  is  reprinted  from  a  hitherto  un- 
published paper. 


A  Narrative  of  the  Objects 
and  Proceedings  of  Silas 

Revolutionary  Narrat 

ves 

Deane,  as  Commissioner 

of  the  I  Inifpd  C~olnni#»Q  tn 

No.  IV. 

France ;  made  to  the  British 



Government  in  1776 

n 

Minimo,  pp.  87. 

EDWARD  BANCROFT. 

Only  250  copies  prin 

ted. 

PAUL  LEICESTER  FORD 

Paper,  uncut,  . 

.75. 

BROOKLYN.  N.  Y.. 
Historical  Pkiktinc  Crvm 
1891. 

Vellum  boards,  gilt  top, 

uncut,            .  | 

1.00. 

When  Deane  was  secretly  sent  to  France,  on  behalf 
of  the  Continental  Congress,  to  endeavor  to  procure 
the  aid  of  that  country  for  the  colonies,  he  was  in- 
structed to  meet  and  confer  with  Dr.  Edward  Bancroft, 
an  old  friend  of  his  and  Franklin,  who  was  supposed 
to  be  a  warm  partizan  of  the  colonies.  A  meeting 
accordingly  took  place  in  Paris,  in  which  Deane  told 
him  the  objects  of  the  mission,  and  how  far  he  had 
succeeded  in  his  negotiations  with  the  French  govern- 
ment. On  Bancroft's  return  to  London  he  commun- 
icated all  this  to  the  English  Ministry,  in  the  paper 
here  (and  for  the  first  time)  printed,  which  includes 
the  fullest  account  we  have  of  the  eventful  period  be- 
tween Deane's  arrival  in  June,  and  Bancroft's  depart- 
ure in  August. 


< 


